NOAA to issue Pro-Tech RFP by September

Apr. 16, 2014 - 06:00AM
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A long-awaited RFP for an estimated $5 billion procurement program managed by the Commerce Department’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) should be released by September, a top agency official says.

Mitchell Ross, director of NOAA’s Acquisition and Grants Office, said his office is drafting a final acquisition plan now for the Professional and Technical Support Services Contract Vehicle, or Pro-Tech, which has an estimated value of between $3 billion and $5 billion over five years. The contract will deliver a wide array of specialty services in the categories of ocean and coastal services, satellite/observing systems services, fisheries, meteorological services, and enterprise operations..

“We hope to have a solicitation out this fiscal year,” Ross said. “Then we anticipate making multiple awards of course next fiscal year. It will be FY15 awards that we will be looking for.”

Pro-Tech represents a significant strategic sourcing initiative within NOAA. Once awarded next year, Pro-Tech is expected to save the agency up to 20 percent of the acquisition costs affected by the contract, he said

Earlier schedules put the award date as early as fiscal 2013.

“The timeline has certainly taken longer than we wanted. It has been a real struggle for us to do all of the analytical work to get to where we are right now. We feel very comfortable that we have the right structure,” Ross said.